Arsenal 1-1 Man City: By the Numbers

1 – Podolski made one cross1 – Podolski made one tackle1 – Podolski had one clearance1 – Podolski was only dispossessed once, it led to the City goal1 – Podolski had one turnover1 – Podolski had one shot1 – Podolski had one shot on goal1 – Podolski had one key pass1 – Podolski had one assist1 – Podolski magic number61 – Number of Arsenal appearances Podolski has made59 – Minutes per game average by Podolski for Arsenal112 – Matches Podolski has played for Germany67 – Minutes per game average by Podolski for Der Grobsmannshaft181 – Matches he played for Köln86 – Minutes per game average by Podolski for Köln6 – Number of times Podolski has played the entire 90 minutes for Arsenal41 – Number of times Podolski has played the entire 90 minutes for Germany150 – Number of times Podolski played the entire 90 minutes for Köln2.1 – Games per goal average for Köln2.4 – Games per goal average for Germany2.5 – Games per goal average for Arsenal6 – Hashtags Podolski will use on Instagram after today’s game #aha

Feast or Flamini

10 – Flamini now has 10 goals for Arsenal and when he scores Arsenal have a record of 8-2-02 – Both draws were against top teams (Chelsea and City) and both games ended 1-11 – Flamini saw club captain Thomas Vermaelen bombing forward mid-way through the second half and shooed him back into defense!79 – He only completed 79% of his passes1 – Only made one tackle2 – Only had two interceptions1 – Only made one clearance1 – Only blocked one shot1 – Only scored one goal!

Tale of Two Halves

1 – Arsenal “shot” in the first half, taken when Giroud spun and passed the ball back to Joe Hart from the half way line9 – Arsenal shots in the second half77 – Arsenal passes in the City final third in the first half90 – Arsenal passes in the City final third in the second half11 – Arsenal crosses in the first half (0 complete, though that one from Sagna, boy howdy that was a great cross that Giroud ignored)14 – Arsenal crosses in the second half (3 completed, all three led to shots, and Podolski’s was an assist)3 – Successful dribbles by Arsenal in the first half (of 12 attempted)5 – Successful dribbles by Arsenal in the second half (of 14 attempted)9 – Successful tackles by Arsenal in the first half (of 10)3 – Successful tackles by Arsenal in the second half (of 5)12 – Aerial duels won by Arsenal in the first half (of 19)20 – Aerial duels won by Arsenal in the second half (of 30)1 – Aerial duel that Flamini won, but somehow, inexplicably Dean not only let Silva undercut Flamini, which is hugely dangerous, but called a foul on Flamini. I will never, for the life of me, understand the rules of challenging for an aerial ball.

Santi Cazorla Man of the Match?

Cazorla was the busiest player on the pitch today leading all players or just his team in the following categories:

57 – Led Arsenal in passes attempted (72) and completed (57)76 – Silva led all players with 65/7633 – Led Arsenal in passes attempted in the final third (33)37 – Silva led all players with 373 – Tied with Silva for creating 3 shots for teammate4 – Led all players by a landslide in successfully dribbling 4/9 times (Gibbs 1/5, Giroud 1/4, Rosicky 1/3, Ox 1/3)9 – Was second on Arsenal with 9 ball recoveries (Arteta had 11)3 – Led Arsenal in tackles with 3/4 – 1 in the City final third8 – Led all players with 8 turnovers, 4 more than Rosicky and 6 more than City’s worst player2 – Led all players with 2/8 crossing5 – Led Arsenal with 5/5 long balls1 – Hit that one pass to Gibbs, remember that? WOOF.

Scoring first

As you know, I have been tracking Arsenal’s goalscoring record this season paying close attention to when Arsenal score and who scores first.

20 – Arsenal have scored first 20 times this season (in League play) and their record in those games is 18-1-110 – Arsenal’s opponents have scored first now 10 times (in League play, including City today) and our record in those games is 1-4-53 – In the first 16 games of this season, Arsenal only allowed the opposition to score first 3 times (3/16)7 – In the second half of this season, Arsenal have allowed the opposition to score first 7 times (7/16)2 – Arsenal have now come back in two consecutive games and earned a draw10 – Arsenal have now allowed the opposition to score in the first half on 10 occasions and our record in those games is also 1-4-517 – Arsenal have conceded 17/37 goals in the first halves of games

This season v. last season

4 – Arsenal are now 4 points better off than last season in the match for match analysis:

(“GD” and “Goals Conceded” are supposed to be the difference of the difference. Does that make sense?)